President Obama Has a Primary Challenger

President Obama Has a Primary Challenger

Abortion activist Terry Randall is challenging President Obama to a Democratic primary race in Iowa where he has begun running caustic ads.

Published June 10, 2011

Abortion foe Randall Terry has announced that he will challenge President Obama for the 2012 Democratic nomination. He is the founder of Operation Rescue and gained nationwide attention in the eighties for blocking the entrances to abortion clinics. The activist also served as a spokesman for the family of Terri Schiavo during a controversial legal battle over the removal of her feeding tube.

Now, why would someone who has twice run for political office as a Republican suddenly cross over to the other side? He has reportedly expressed a desire to buy ad time during the 2012 Super Bowl, which will air before the Iowa caucuses in February. The ad would, of course, feature dead fetuses to help promote his cause. But such images would be way more shocking than a wardrobe malfunction, so he probably shouldn’t count on getting that past the network censors.

Hope springs eternal, however, and Terry is a man of faith. He’s begun campaigning in Iowa this week has made ad buys that will begin airing Thursday during evening newscasts. In the 60-second ad, that is filled with Republican talking points, he says that “Barack Hussein Obama is the worst president in American history.” He also accuses Obama of choosing a government shutdown over paying troops on time or defunding Planned Parenthood.

“I use the words and imagery that most Tea Party and pro-life activists use every day. [Obama] is at war with life and liberty and is enslaving our children to unfathomable debt,” Terry said in a statement. “I am simply saying what John Boehner or Mitt Romney should say daily. Apparently they do not possess the courage or clarity of thought.”

Terry has been arrested more than 50 times, including for trespassing during an Obama commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame in 2009.